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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23689648">Breathe</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Edyn04/pseuds/Edele%20Lane'>Edele Lane (Edyn04)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Trust Me [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Warcraft - All Media Types, World of Warcraft</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff, Happy Ending, I don’t know how to write anything else, It’s very brief but it’s there I promise, One-Shot, Sexual Content, Spoilers for other stories in the series, Standalone, Trust Me verse, obviously</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 17:20:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,461</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23689648</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Edyn04/pseuds/Edele%20Lane</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Years after the events of Trust Me, Sylvanas Windrunner has settled down with Jaina Proudmoore. She has everything she could possibly want, or so she believes...</p><p>Sometimes, she lays awake at night, consumed by thoughts of her past and the woman she used to be.</p><p>This fic is another one-shot in my Trust Me verse that has some spoilers, but can be read on its own, like the other one-shots in the series.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jaina Proudmoore/Sylvanas Windrunner</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Trust Me [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1492991</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>85</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Breathe</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi, I’m sort of back from hiatus. Hope you’re all doing well and staying safe.</p><p>This idea and others have been swimming around in my head since late last year, and a while ago, I wrote out a very quick, very rough version of this fic. I came back to it whenever the faintest inspiration would strike, but only in the past couple weeks did I really sit down and truly revise it.</p><p>This went through several iterations, but I think I settled on the one I like best. This is a rare Sylvanas PoV from me and I enjoyed digging into her head a bit. Hopefully, you guys will enjoy it as well.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sylvanas Windrunner lay awake next to her wife, Jaina Proudmoore, watching her breathe. It was slowly becoming a ritual, sleeping for an hour or so, then waking to watch her wife sleep until she had the desire to close her eyes again.</p><p>Sylvanas did not need sleep, but she still found comfort in holding Jaina as the woman she loved slumbered, her breaths slow and even. That was even more comforting, listening to and watching her breathe.</p><p>Sylvanas had started thinking about her own state of being more and more, reflecting on her past before Arthas had struck her down, turned into who she was currently. She rubbed her wife’s shoulder with her fingertips, smoothing over the fabric of her nightshirt. Jaina stirred only slightly, but not enough to wake up.</p><p>Sylvanas considered their relationship, considered how much she loved her wife and how much her wife loved her. They had carved out a life of their own in Silvermoon, content to be with one another forever. She was happy, they both were, she knew that. But lately, every night, when Sylvanas would wake and watch Jaina breathe, she felt a pang. A pang of loss, a pang of wishing she had her old life back, a pang of hurt that she was no longer the woman she was.</p><p>If her wife knew how she felt, she would tell Sylvanas she loved her regardless, that it did not matter who she was... she knew that, too. Jaina, over their years together, had developed a way with words, just as she had. They both knew what to say to make each other feel better, to comfort one another whenever it was needed.</p><p>Sylvanas smiled at the thought, but she still hurt. There was an ache in her chest where her heart once beat, an ache that was beginning to consume her, despite what her wife may end up saying.</p><p>She missed being alive.</p><p>She missed her heart pounding during the thrill of a hunt or a battle or in bed with the woman she loved.</p><p>She missed being able to properly eat food, even if she could still taste it just a little.</p><p>She missed the feeling of warmth from anything or anyone, from a roaring fireplace, from the burning sun, from the woman next to her...</p><p>She felt guilty for feeling the way she did. She loved her life, never really felt as though anything was missing, but late at night, she would think. She would think too much as her wife also tended to do, as she tended to point out.</p><p>
  <i>”You’re in your head.”</i>
</p><p>She had said it a number of times and her wife had begun to say it as well, any time she spotted Sylvanas looking off into the distance.</p><p>She was thinking now. She watched her wife laying on her back, snuggled warmly underneath a couple of thick blankets, watched as her chest steadily rose and fell with each quiet breath. She kissed Jaina’s shoulder, closing her eyes against the overwhelming feeling of sorrow clutching at her dead heart.</p><p>She missed <i>breathing</i>.</p><p>She missed the feeling of any kind of exertion taking the wind out of her, making her gulp down buckets of air, feeling pleasantly lightheaded as she recovered. She missed running and hunting and fighting and feeling the ache and burn in her muscles. She missed feeling a rush of accomplishment at being so thoroughly out of breath.</p><p>She missed when having a tumble with the beautiful woman next to her meant sweat on her brow and glistening all over her body, making love breathlessly until they both came down from mutual highs, wrapped up in an impossibly warm tangle of limbs, panting until they could both breathe again, holding each other tight.</p><p>It was silly, she felt.</p><p>She could do all of those things and she was better off because she did not have to deal with the pesky details the living did. She could push herself harder, faster, longer, without breaking a sweat, without needing to stop or slow down.</p><p>But she missed it.</p><p>She missed <i>all</i> of it.</p><p>Without thinking, she gritted her teeth and clenched the hand that was on her wife’s shoulder, causing her to wake up with a yelp, startled and panting as she sat up.</p><p>“Sylvanas?” Jaina’s voice was relatively quiet, but there was panic in it. “Is everything all right?”</p><p>Sylvanas bit the inside of her cheek as she sat up as well, cursing herself for unintentionally waking her wife, especially when she did so in a way that had caused her pain. Jaina was panting, chest heaving, trying to catch her breath in her frightened state. Sylvanas watched and listened, not speaking for the moment. She soothed the spot on her wife’s shoulder that she had gripped too tightly, then pressed cool lips to her neck.</p><p>She felt the shudder that ran through Jaina’s body, heard the trembling breath that dropped from her lips. She turned Jaina’s face towards her own, leaning in to swallow the next breath she took, kissing her with an eagerness she did not realize she felt.</p><p>Jaina pulled back, placing shaky hands on Sylvanas’ shoulders. “Did you wake me up for—“</p><p>“No,” Sylvanas said quickly, dropping her gaze. If she had been alive, she knew her face would have been entirely red. She shivered at her wife’s palm reaching up to caress her cheek and she leaned against it, closing her eyes.</p><p>“Are you all right?” Jaina’s voice was soft and Sylvanas let out an equally soft sigh.</p><p>She took a moment to appreciate her wife’s caring words, then opened her eyes and gazed into a sweet look of concern. She considered telling Jaina exactly what was going on, telling her how she felt. Instead, she reached for the hand on her cheek and grasped it, kissing Jaina’s palm, shivering once more when Jaina took her hand and pulled it to her chest.</p><p>Sylvanas could feel Jaina’s heart pounding beneath her palm as she listened to breaths that became shaky and soft. She knew Jaina was thinking of when she had first put her hands on her, in the alley. She stiffened just slightly, reminded of the time in her life she had told Jaina was when she felt most alive.</p><p>Jaina leaned forward and Sylvanas felt the air that Jaina exhaled whisper over her lips and she kissed her, soft and sweet. She pulled back, pressing her forehead against Jaina’s. They stayed that way for a couple of minutes, then Jaina released Sylvanas’ hand and Sylvanas noted that her wife’s face and neck were flushed, likely a result of being woken abruptly, but maybe, there was more...</p><p>She licked her lips and pulled Jaina close, kissing her again, testing her theory. She did not wake Jaina up intentionally, but the way her wife was responding to her kisses, responding to being held close, made her slip a hand under Jaina’s thin nightshirt, pressing against her quivering stomach.</p><p>She looked up into Jaina’s eyes, asking a silent question to which she already knew the answer, but still wanted to ask. Jaina gave her a kiss in response, and Sylvanas let her hand drift across soft skin, fingertips stroking Jaina’s belly.</p><p>“You don’t have to tell me what’s wrong,” Jaina breathed, her eyes shining in the dark, “just know that I’m here.”</p><p>Sylvanas could have wept, but she held her emotions in check, choosing to respond to her wife’s thoughtful words with a kiss that she hoped conveyed how grateful she felt. Jaina seemed to accept that response and Sylvanas found herself more appreciative than she could ever possibly say.</p><p>Jaina lifted her nightshirt above her head, laying it next to her as a shivering breath escaped her. The moonlight pouring in through the window made Jaina’s skin glow, made her eyes glitter in the dark. Sylvanas let her own eyes drink in her wife’s body, every sharp and soft angle, every swell and curve. Her fingertips danced over Jaina’s illuminated skin and she finally bent forward to kiss her neck, drawing out quiet breaths that sent wondrous shivers throughout both of their bodies. She kissed and licked flushed crimson skin, listening to each breath that fell from Jaina’s lips.</p><p>She moved down, leaving gentle kisses along a sharp collarbone, then nipping the tops of Jaina’s breasts with her fangs. Each movement of her mouth brought out a quiet moan and an even quieter breath, and Sylvanas allowed herself the slightest of smiles at the sounds.</p><p>Sylvanas raised her hand to cup and knead one breast while her mouth entertained the other, eliciting soft moans of pleasure and making Jaina slip both hands into her hair. Spurred on, she slipped her arm behind Jaina’s back and swiftly turned and laid her down on their bed, giving them a more comfortable position. Sylvanas settled on top of her, leaning down to graze her neck with just the slightest hint of fang. This close to Jaina’s mouth, she could hear barely audible whimpers, shivering when her wife pulled her closer, turning her face to meet her lips in a slow, sensuous kiss.</p><p>Sylvanas pulled back to rest her cheek on Jaina’s chest, counting each heartbeat and each inhale and exhale. Jaina ran gentle hands through her hair, fingertips soothingly rubbing the back of her neck with each pass. Sylvanas ran a hand down Jaina’s body, humming softly when the muscles of her wife’s belly flexed under her fingertips.</p><p>Sylvanas listened as Jaina drew in a sharp breath, listened further when her heart rate quickened, trembled when strong legs wrapped around her own. Sylvanas lifted her head, meeting her wife’s beautiful blue eyes as she kissed the impossibly soft skin of Jaina’s breasts. There was another whimper and Sylvanas brought her hand down, caressing the top of one thigh.</p><p>She moved that hand between Jaina’s legs, rubbing soft inner thighs, but there was a trembling breath on her wife’s lips that told her Jaina needed more.</p><p>Sylvanas would have normally preferred a bit more exploration, but Jaina was more eager than she could have imagined after being unexpectedly awakened in the middle of the night, and Sylvanas, transfixed by Jaina’s uneven breaths, by the pounding of her heart, was more than happy to oblige.</p><p>She slid a finger between nether lips, then added a second, lightly brushing Jaina’s clit. She moved both fingers in slow circles and light strokes, gazing at Jaina’s chest in the low light of the room. Her breasts, tipped with stiff, rosy nipples that Sylvanas leaned forward to suck on in turn, rose and fell with each quick breath she took. Sylvanas pressed her cheek to Jaina’s chest once more, hearing and feeling her heart pound, trembling again when Jaina held her even closer.</p><p>Her fingers moved down, becoming slick with the fruits of their labor, and Sylvanas carefully pushed one inside her wife, meeting a bit of resistance. She stroked and curled that finger, then gingerly added a second. Sylvanas heard Jaina’s breath catch in her throat, felt her heart begin to beat even faster.</p><p>Jaina felt so incredibly <i>alive</i> and Sylvanas was truly living for it.</p><p>She cautiously pumped her fingers faster within, drawing out deep moans from Jaina and even one from herself, a moan that made Jaina gasp and whisper her name, as she held her tighter. She watched as Jaina moved a hand down between them, apparently wishing to assist Sylvanas.</p><p>“No,” she groused against Jaina’s breasts. Jaina stopped and pulled her hand away, her breaths even more shaky and uneven, another gasp in her throat. Sylvanas relished it all, but she spoke in a softer tone as she added earnestly, “Not yet. I... I need something first...”</p><p>Sylvanas pressed a gentle kiss to her wife’s lips, then laid down again, cheek pressed against her chest. Jaina was trembling beneath her and Sylvanas could feel unease and nervousness radiating off her. Closing her eyes, Sylvanas listened as her wife’s heart beat even faster and harder. Jaina’s breaths were short gasps, pleasure mixed with obvious confusion, and Sylvanas unabashedly loved it.</p><p>“What do you need?” Jaina asked quietly.</p><p>Sylvanas opened her eyes and looked up into her wife’s deeply flushed face. “To hear you breathe.”</p><p>Sylvanas heard Jaina take a breath and hold it, heard her wife’s heart skip a couple of beats. Jaina seemed to understand, at least a little, but Sylvanas could tell there was an uneasiness in it. Jaina’s body stiffened, her breaths became shallow, her heart raced.</p><p>For a few brief moments, Sylvanas imagined she was alive, imagined Jaina’s breaths and heartbeat were hers, too, imagined their hearts and breaths were in sync. She closed her eyes again, slowing her fingers, stroking gently against Jaina’s front wall, drawing out a gasping moan and more quick breaths.</p><p>“Sylvanas...” Jaina’s voice was abnormally quiet. Sylvanas swallowed when her wife spoke again, and it sounded like a sob was caught in her throat. “What’s going on? I...”</p><p>Perhaps, Sylvanas had been wrong, and Jaina did not understand. She was not certain she could even explain it, not certain she even wanted to do so. She hated feeling this way, hated that she wished she was still alive. She was with a woman who had loved her deeply before her death and loved her even more now, and yet still, she wished she was the person she had been before Arthas.</p><p>She was partly the same, she knew. Her personality had not changed much, her body was a different color, and she could not feel with the same intensity that she had been able to before, but she was still Sylvanas Windrunner. To Jaina, she knew she was still the woman her wife had unexpectedly fallen in love with and thought about over the years until they finally found one another again.</p><p>Her wife loved her for the person she was presently, a fact that should have filled her with joy. Instead, she found herself wondering if it came from a place of pity, and her mood darkened.</p><p>Her fingers slowed further and then stopped entirely and she heard Jaina draw in a sharp breath, felt her wife carefully shift into a sitting position, as Sylvanas adjusted and sat on her knees between her wife’s parted legs, two fingers still within.</p><p>“It’s all right,” Sylvanas soothed her, stroking her cheek with her free hand. She held Jaina’s gaze, moving her hand down to brush plush lips that kissed her thumb. Jaina’s eyes closed and Sylvanas watched as she reached down once more, her hand resting on her thigh. Sylvanas purred, resuming the motions of her fingers within, slow and soft.</p><p>“Sylvanas,” Jaina whispered, and Sylvanas looked up, finding Jaina’s eyes open and shining again in the dark. She wondered if the shine was from the glinting moonlight coming in through the window, or if it was from tears. “I want to talk.”</p><p>Sylvanas froze, stilling her fingers, swallowing hard. Tears, she decided, and a pit began to form in her stomach. She withdrew her hand, listening to breaths that were, for the moment, normal and even. Her thoughts turned back to how she believed Jaina might love her out of pity. She chewed on the inside of her cheek.</p><p>“I need to know what you’re thinking,” Jaina said, her voice a gentle whisper that made Sylvanas shiver. “You said you needed to hear me breathe. I need to know what that means.”</p><p>Sylvanas could not stop the flippant response that burst from her like water from a dam. “What do you think it means, darling?” She scoffed coldly as she looked into her wife’s soft blue eyes, watching as Jaina shrank back, pulling away from her slightly. Her gaze dropped down and she shivered when her wife wrung her hands. She looked back up, finding Jaina’s face red with what was clearly shame. Guilt flooded her and she swallowed uneasily, the right words to say refusing to manifest themselves as Jaina continued.</p><p>“Why are you acting like this?”</p><p>Her wife sounded broken and Sylvanas hesitated, still trying to find something to say. Instead, she pulled Jaina into a fierce embrace, again burying herself in her chest. She felt Jaina tense, felt her wife only tentatively wrap gentle arms around her, resting her chin atop her head. Still, she burrowed further into her wife, craving the comfort Jaina was, even reluctantly, providing.</p><p>“Do you wish you were still alive?”</p><p>Sylvanas was not expecting Jaina to go for the gut-punch question so quickly and she could not suppress the gasp of surprise that escaped her when Jaina spoke again. She also could not suppress the answer that spilled from her, an answer that she did not want Jaina to know.</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>Jaina moved away completely, standing and walking to the window where Nate, their fluffy black and white cat, was sleeping soundly, his fur bathed in moonlight. Sylvanas watched her wife, watched as Jaina wrapped her arms around herself as she faced the window. Her body was again illuminated by the moon, pale skin becoming bright, her curves accented beautifully.</p><p>Sylvanas wished she could breathe, because if she could, it would have caught in her throat. She pushed the feeling away, knowing she needed to focus on comforting her wife, focus on setting Jaina’s mind at ease.</p><p>She let her eyes drift to Jaina’s bedside table, to the book on the history of elven rangers she had given to Jaina during the week they had spent together years before. It was still in good condition, but it was definitely worn from Jaina reading and rereading its contents as well as Sylvanas’ sidebar comments over the years. There was also the note written in a special ink, only visible under a considerably bright light, the note in which Sylvanas had confessed her love.

Sylvanas knew the book was one of Jaina’s most prized possessions, something that her wife loved dearly, almost as much as she knew Jaina loved her...</p><p>She looked at Jaina again, guilt coursing through her once more, watching her wife’s tense body language. With another glance at the book, her hands shaking slightly, she sighed and stood, walking up behind Jaina. Tentatively, she kissed her hair, then her neck, then rested her chin on her shoulder as she wrapped her in an embrace. Jaina was tense and stiff in her arms, and Sylvanas squeezed just a bit tighter, humming softly. The words she had always been so good with still eluded her and she closed her eyes, hoping that her kisses and her soft embrace would convey how strongly she felt about her wife.</p><p>They were both silent for a short while, then Jaina broke through the quiet, speaking softly, her words full of conviction.</p><p>“I love you, Sylvanas,” she murmured sincerely, and Sylvanas felt the tension in her wife’s muscles slowly begin to leave her, though a fair amount still remained. “I need you to tell me that you know that, at least.”</p><p>“I do.” And she did, even if her treacherous mind thought it may be, at least somewhat, out of pity.</p><p>“How long have you felt this way?” Jaina’s voice was still quiet and Sylvanas felt her tense again, as she tensed as well.</p><p>“A while.” The admission was quiet, too, and Sylvanas listened as Jaina sucked in a breath and let it out slowly, carefully, clearly trying to decide how to respond.</p><p>“What can I do?”</p><p>Sylvanas did not answer. She let Jaina’s question marinate, unsure what to say. She was still at a loss for words, when what to say used to always come so easily to her. Before she was able to even attempt to formulate a reply, Jaina spoke again, her voice animated and full of hope.</p><p>“Do you want me to look into some sort of resurrection spell? Maybe speak to Anduin, see if he’s capable? With Chi-ji’s help, he brought me back, he might be able to—“</p><p>“No.” Sylvanas cut her off, surprised at herself. Maybe, she did not wish to be alive as much as she thought. Maybe, she was just going through something, something with which only her wife could help, but not by doing anything drastic...</p><p>Words.</p><p>Words could help.</p><p>It was so simple, Sylvanas realized, and she decided that what she needed was to hear more words. Licking her lips, she leaned closer, mouth brushing the shell of Jaina’s ear, sending an obvious shiver throughout her body.</p><p>“What do you love about me?”</p><p>Sylvanas felt her wife melt into her arms at the whispered question, heard the soft humming sound that escaped her, heard the deep inhale and slow exhale on her lips, heard the quiet huff of a laugh she uttered before she began speaking again. Just the few words that Sylvanas had finally been able to say seemed to put her wife in a much better mood.</p><p>“What <i>don’t</i> I love about you?”</p><p>Sylvanas allowed herself a soft chuckle, loosening up just a little, enough to speak again. “I want to be selfish for a bit. I want to hear you sing my praises.” She pressed her palms to full hips, drawing Jaina back flush against her, closing her eyes and listening as her wife drew in a deep, steadying breath.</p><p>“I love your courage,” she began, “I love your determination. I love how dedicated you are to seeing a plan through, even in the face of adversity.”</p><p>Sylvanas felt a strong wave of emotion wash over her and a single tear formed in the corner of her eye. She wrapped her arms securely around her wife, holding her close. She kissed the back of her wife’s neck, her lips just whispering against soft skin. Jaina drew in a sharp breath, a breath that was music to Sylvanas’ ears.</p><p>“I love that you’re a good person. I love that you want peace for this world. I love that you wouldn’t hesitate to put your life on the line to protect everything and everyone you care for and believe in.”</p><p>Jaina’s words were beautiful in their simplicity and their earnestness. More tears crept into Sylvanas’ eyes as she continued to hold her wife. She tentatively let one hand dip down, heard Jaina suck in a quivering breath and hold it. She dipped down further, slowly, let Jaina take her hand and press it between thighs that trembled. Sylvanas opened her with a careful stroke, listened as Jaina finally let out the breath she had been holding. Sylvanas let her wife guide her, let her set the pace until she dropped her hand and leaned back, letting Sylvanas take over.</p><p>“I love that you have vulnerabilities. I love that you can always find the words to make me feel better. I love that you can say ‘trust me,’ and I’ll do exactly that, no matter what.”</p><p>Her voice began to break and Sylvanas soothed her with soft kisses against her cheek. Her breathing started to become uneven as Sylvanas heard her choke back a sob. The tears in Sylvanas’ eyes finally began to fall, running down her cheeks, dropping onto Jaina’s shoulder.</p><p>“I love the way you are around me. I love the way you hold me.” A soft sigh from Jaina sent a beautiful shiver through Sylvanas. “I love the way you touch me.”</p><p>Jaina reached down again, brushing the back of Sylvanas’ hand, the two of them trembling. Jaina’s hips jerked as Sylvanas circled her clit. She reached back up, guiding Sylvanas’ free hand to one of her breasts. Sylvanas gently nipped at her wife’s neck, then rolled a firm nipple between her fingertips. Jaina spoke once more, her voice even softer, even more breathless than it had been, her words now more intimate.</p><p>“I love how well you know my body. I love what your hands and mouth do to me. I love that you always know what I need.”</p><p>Sylvanas’ tears had dried and her mood was steadily improving. Jaina may have said that Sylvanas always knew what she needed, but the sentiment was true for her as well. Jaina turned her head to her, catching her gaze as she leaned close, and they shared a tender kiss that shook Sylvanas to her very core.</p><p>For a moment, she forgot to focus on Jaina’s breathing, so consumed was she with how much her wife needed her and how good that made her feel.</p><p>“I feel like I could talk forever about what I love about you, Sylvanas,” Jaina whispered gruffly, a trembling breath on her lips. She went quiet after that, her hips rolling forward, her breath catching in her throat. Sylvanas knew she was close. She knew that in a few more moments, her wife would find ecstasy, going limp in her arms, whimpering her name as she breathed heavily, trying to recover.</p><p>Sylvanas did not delay it. She rubbed and stroked soft breasts and taut nipples, watched and felt her wife’s body shake as she continued to circle Jaina’s clit until Jaina was writhing against her, struggling to speak, eventually settling for a breathless murmur of Sylvanas’ name.</p><p>“Sylvanas...”</p><p>Her name spoken once more, sounding strangled in Jaina’s throat, an expression of pure satisfaction, one that Sylvanas could not deny had an effect on her that was difficult to replicate. She closed her eyes again, lost in the rhythmic sounds of life. Jaina’s heartbeat eventually slowed to normal and her frantic gasps finally calmed, settling into quiet, even breaths.</p><p>It all sounded wonderful. Sylvanas could not actually imagine anything that sounded better, in fact. She pressed a series of tender kisses to Jaina’s pulse point, holding her wife upright, holding a body seemingly only consisting of tensing muscles that had finally found the release they sorely needed. Sylvanas kissed anywhere she could reach, savoring the slightly salty taste of the sweat that made Jaina’s skin glitter in the moonlight. She looked down at the window sill, wondering when, exactly, Nate had vacated his sleeping spot. She smiled as Jaina turned slowly, resting weakly in her arms.</p><p>“Most of all,” Jaina whispered against Sylvanas’ chest, as she looked up, “most of all, I love that you love me. It doesn’t matter who I am, or what I do, you just... love me. And I need that... I <i>love</i> that... I love it more than I can say.”</p><p>“I don’t deserve you,” Sylvanas mumbled, and she wished she did not feel that way. It had been a feeling she had shared with her sisters a few years before in the Shadowlands, while Jaina had eavesdropped. Vereesa had insisted they complemented one another, a sentiment with which Jaina had agreed when they talked shortly after.</p><p>She knew she was lucky enough to be with a woman who loved her unconditionally, who would—and had—follow her to the ends of Azeroth and beyond, who felt that she was a beautiful person inside and out. Jaina’s words had helped, or so she thought.</p><p>“Bullshit,” Jaina all but spat in response, startling Sylvanas out of her thoughts. She fisted Sylvanas’ nightshirt with hands that shook with anger and Sylvanas struggled to meet her gaze. “I don’t know what to do to make you not feel the way you do, and maybe I’m not supposed to. All I know is that I love <i>you</i>. I love everything about you. I don’t care what you look like, I don’t care that you believe you’re different than the Ranger-General I fell in love with so many years ago. All I care about is that you’re the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. You’re the woman I’ve <i>always</i> loved. You’re the woman I will always <i>love</i>.”</p><p>Sylvanas closed her eyes and felt Jaina’s hands loosen their grip on her nightshirt, felt strong arms encompass her. She was uncertain how to respond. She had been right about what Jaina would say, that her wife would tell her she loved her without question. She began to feel more comforted by Jaina’s words, began to realize that she would always be truly loved by this woman.</p><p>Jaina slid her hands into Sylvanas’ hair, bringing her closer, pressing their foreheads together. Sylvanas closed her eyes, shivering at Jaina’s breath on her face.</p><p>“I can’t tell you how to feel,” Jaina murmured against her lips, “I can only tell you how <i>I</i> feel.”</p><p>Sylvanas pulled her closer, whispering, “You’ll always love me?” Her voice nearly broke as she said the words and Jaina tugged her face down slightly, capturing her lips in a heated kiss that more than answered Sylvanas’ question.</p><p>“Yes,” Jaina said when she drew back, her hands still in Sylvanas’ hair, “yes, even if you somehow turn into some shriveled old woman.” She smiled as Sylvanas chuckled and she added, “It’s far more likely <i>I’ll</i> be the shriveled one...”</p><p>A few comfortably silent moments passed between them, then Sylvanas kissed her forehead and her nose, as she blushed. Things had calmed and softened between them and Sylvanas was grateful for the levity. “You’re so red.”</p><p>Jaina met her gaze with a smirk. “Am I still cute?”</p><p>Sincerely, Sylvanas murmured, “Always.”</p><p>“You know,” Jaina began thoughtfully, and Sylvanas tilted her head curiously, “I’d love you even if you were a murloc...”</p><p>Sylvanas sputtered and coughed. “Is this the part where you tell me you’ve had a dream about turning me into a murloc?”</p><p>Jaina grinned and kissed Sylvanas as she tried to recover. “No, and I’ve yet to turn you into a cat, so you’re <i>probably</i> safe...”</p><p>Sylvanas gulped, chewing on her lip. “But it <i>did</i> snow here...” Her eyes widened just a little and Jaina stole a kiss.</p><p>“You’d make a cute murloc, I think.”</p><p>“Oh?” Sylvanas quirked an eyebrow. Teasingly, she inquired, “There something I should know, Proudmoore?”</p><p>Jaina’s mouth dropped open and her expression turned to one of disgust. She lowered her hands and pushed back slightly on Sylvanas’ shoulders, shaking her head as Sylvanas grinned. “You’re teasing me,” she said gently, “I’m going to take that to mean you’re in a better mood.”</p><p>Sylvanas softened and relaxed even further. “I am. I think... I just needed to hear everything you said.” She pulled Jaina into an embrace, feeling her wife melt into her arms once again. “I know you love me for who I am, but I think I’m always going to miss the woman I was before Arthas, at least a little. I miss being warm, I miss hearing my heartbeat, I miss breathing.” She drew back just enough to see the kind, understanding look in her wife’s eyes. “I know it isn’t rational, I just... miss it all sometimes.”</p><p>“Is there anything I can do?”</p><p>Jaina was fingering the fabric of her nightshirt and Sylvanas noted a wicked gleam in her eye. She felt something within her, a fleeting warmth, and she realized with a jolt that every time they were together, she felt alive, for just a little while. Her heart did not beat, her lungs did not produce air, her body did not sweat, but being with Jaina gave her a positive feeling unlike any other.</p><p>It went further than that, she realized. It was not just being with Jaina physically, it was being in her presence, listening to her speak, just... being with her entirely.</p><p>She had not fully acknowledged it before, had not given the feeling a name. She just knew she felt good, but it had not occurred to her that she actually felt like she used to feel. It had taken this long, it had taken this conversation, it had taken reminiscing about the past, it had taken Sylvanas truly thinking about everything for it to become clear...</p><p>Jaina... brought her to life.</p><p>The look on her face must have also given Jaina a clear answer, because her wife leaned forward and pressed warm lips to her neck, planting soft kisses along her throat. She let her head fall back, let her wife do what she wished. She began to feel it, began to experience the feeling she had previously been unable to name.</p><p>No.</p><p>She felt <i>even better</i>.</p><p>“You always know how to comfort me.” Sylvanas held Jaina tightly, closing her eyes.</p><p>There was a brief pause in kisses as Jaina murmured, “So do you.” A moment passed and she asked, “Will you be all right?”</p><p>Sylvanas nodded. “I will.”</p><p>It was true.</p><p>Jaina looked unconvinced, her blue eyes darkening and seeming as though they were full of worry. Sylvanas ran a reassuring hand through her hair, shivering at the deep, steadying, wondrous breath her wife took.</p><p>She smiled.</p><p>“Trust me.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for clicking. This story, despite tiny bits of humor, is definitely darker than my other Trust Me one-offs, but it was an idea I wanted to explore for months and was unable to truly write the way I wanted until now.</p><p>I’ve been trying to write more in general, particularly Sylvaina, especially after my foray into Jaina/Vereesa which got my creative juices flowing again after being dormant for a while. I have a backlog of fic ideas, some that are still ideas, some that have partially written chapters, and I hope to be back sooner rather than later with another fic/additional chapter to an existing fic.</p><p>Thanks again for reading.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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